Driving route advice - Pheonix to Vegas
 

I'm going to be vacationing near pheonix and have the chance to borrow my father-in-law's 350Z convertible and drive with the wife to Vegas for a couple of nights without the kids.

Is there a fun route that has some curves, some great scenery and some great stops?

I'd appreciate the advice from the best car guys in the world!

Thanks!

Mike from Canada

Partial interstate but

From Phoenix 17 North get off on highway 179 to Sedona, then north 89a (through Oak Creek Canyon) to Flagstaff
From Flagstaff west on 40 to Seligman, take Route 66 from Seligman to Kingman Az

from Kingman 93 to Las Vegas.


Have fun. I've not done the route 66 part of this, but the rest I have.

Google maps says 411 mi – about 8 hours 6 mins.

Jay

phx thru sedona

phx thru wickenburg

once at kingman go west on 40 to laughlin,then go back way to vegas thru searchlight,nevada. upper most part of joshua tree forest. then take right to railroad pass and henderson, then into lost wages.

If you get bored in Vegas, I have always enjoyed the roads in and around Death Valley.

When I have work at NAS China Lake, Ca., I always fly into Vegas and drive to China Lake...

I go often. I live right off of Carefree Hwy., so I take that to Rt. 60 in Wickenburg, then Rt. 93 to Kingman. Just past Kingman you have to decide if you want to brave the traffic and huge wait at Hoover Dam. It's not bad on weekdays, but it SUCKS on weekends. If Hoover Dam, then continue on Rt. 95. If you want to bypass, turn off at Rt. 163 and go to Bullhead City/Laughlin. After Laughlin take Rt. 95 up toward Vegas. The Laughlin route is much more scenic when coming from Vegas to Phoenix, but it's still very scenic. It adds 25 miles to the route, but can be a lot faster, since you can drive very fast and skip the Hoover Dam bottleneck. I regularly keep it above 100 mph on that route. Be sure you have a lot of water in your car.

I live in Prescott, an hour or so N of Phoenix. From here you go up 89 to 40 west to Kingman and then hang a right to Vegas. I wouldn't call it scenic or curvy but it's direct. Just watch out for PHOTO RADAR! It's everywhere up here.
Driving over the Dam can be slow, but worth it to see the new bridge that goes over the dam! It's mind boggling.